With the ever growing presence of the invasive and destructive Emerald Ash Borer beetle in the Twin Cities many questions are being left unanswered. One major question on most peoples mind is: what does the Emerald Ash Borer beetle look like?

This is a very good question and one that I hope to be able to answer for you in this short article. After all, education is a key element in developing an effective Emerald Ash Borer treatment plan. So lets get started.

The adult Emerald Ash Borer beetle has some very distinct characteristics:

• the adult beetle has an overall bright, metallic emerald green color
• the upper side of the abdomen is a very bright coppery red, however this distinct coppery red color will only be visible when the wings are raised
• the antenna is in a serrated triangular saw like shape
• between 10 and 13 mm is the general length of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle

The larva stage of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle can be found feeding on the inner bark of you Ash tree. The larva are a white segmented borer that will be identifiable by the S-shaped tunnels they leave on the inner bark of your tree while feeding. The larva will not be as easy to find and see with the naked eye as the adult beetle. This is due to the adult beetle feeding on the outer leaves of your tree while the larva feed on the inner bark of your tree. Meaning, in order to see a larva Emerald Ash Borer beetle you would physically need to remove a portion of the bark to observe the inner portions of your tree.

This is a brief description of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle in it’s adult and larva stage. Of course more information will be needed to develop an effective Emerald Ash Borer treatment plan. There are many helpful resources out there to provide you with more education on the subject of Emerald Ash Borer. For those living in the Twin Cities Metro area I would suggest visiting the Minnesota Department of Agriculture or the City of St. Paul website; as both of these websites provide extensive information on the subject of EAB.

After further research, if you desire advanced education or want to form a Emerald Ash Borer treatment plan that meets your needs and budget, contact Sweet Leaf Tree Service directly.

It has been established through previous articles; St. Paul and the Fight against Emerald Ash Borer is ground zero in the Twin Cities battle against this invasive pest. As we have previously mentioned, St. Paul is implementing a strategy of “Structured Removal” for city owned Ash trees. This has left many home owners wondering what is the best plan of action for their Ash trees. Should home owners follow suit and remove their trees or can a insecticide treatment save their tree from the Emerald Ash Borer beetle?

The city of St. Paul website has a wonderful flow chart to help determine an effective Emerald Ash Borer treatment plan for its residents. The flow chart is easy to read and is very friendly to those not familiar with trees or tree disease.

Essentially a multi step process is outlined:

1. Is your tree an Ash? Ash trees have opposite branches, meaning the branches are directly across from each other, and Ash trees have compound leaves of about 5-11 leaflets.
2. Does your tree have Emerald Ash Borer? Symptoms include: Canopy die back, excessive woodpecker activity, epicormic sprouts, and D-shaped exit holes in the bark.

The flow chart then outlines your various options if, yes you have an Ash Tree, and if your tree has or has not become infected with Emerald Ash Borer.

The flow chart suggests the options of:

• Ash tree removal
• Ash tree removal and replacement
• or Treatment of your Ash Tree

The two Emerald Ash Borer treatment methods discussed on the city of St. Paul’s website are insecticide treatments through trunk injection and soil drenching treatments. As is illustrated in the flow chart, insecticide treatments are safer than soil drenching in terms of protecting ground water purity as well as various invertebrates and mammals. Soil drenching methods also put children and pets at risk of coming in contact with the chemical, and is another reason why trunk injection methods are a safer route to pursue when considering your treatment options.

To those St. Paul residents who are wondering what their best option is in terms of combating Emerald Ash Borer I would highly recommend checking out the City of St. Paul’s website. Aside from the flow chart mentioned above there is much more information such as: persons of contact to help educate on the issue of EAB, along with links to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture where even more news and information is available. The City of St. Paul forestry section of their website is both a great resource and a great place to start for those residents looking for answers.

As always, we at Sweet Leaf Tree Service are here to answer any of your questions free of charge.